Prize-winning dog that died after competing in Crufts was not poisoned at the British show

The prize-winning dog that died after competing in Crufts was not poisoned at the British dog show but on his return home to Belgium, it has emerged.

The Kennel Club, which runs Crufts, said toxicology tests on the Irish setter Jagger showed he died earlier this month after ingesting a fast-acting insecticide that is banned in the European Union.

Jagger, who is co-owned by a British and Belgian team, died late on 6 March after ingesting two toxic carbamate pesticides, carbofuran and aldicarb, the club said.

Club Secretary Caroline Kisko said investigations had also revealed no basis for rumours that five more dogs have been poisoned at the show, which has run since 1891.

"There has been a lot of concern about whether the poisoning happened at Crufts and we are now able to reassure all dog lovers who came to Crufts that this could not have been possible," she said in a statement.

"It is highly likely that the poisons, thought to be on a piece of beef, were eaten in Belgium, shortly before Jagger's death."

His death prompted widespread speculation about dirty tricks and the fierce competition at Crufts, where the paltry prize winnings are dwarfed by the large sums that owners can earn by breeding top ranked dogs.

But the Kennel Club insisted that reports in the media of widespread poisonings were way off the mark.

"Absolutely no dog has been shown to have been sick at or after Crufts due to poison ingested at the show, there are no veterinary reports or evidence to support this notion, and no official reports of poisoning have been made to the police," Kisko said.